Singh pleads guilty to bribery, will testify against Mangano and Venditto

Documents show restaurateur pleaded guilty, agreed to cooperate against former officials in 2016

Posted
Wednesday, January 24, 2018 4:20 pm

Harendra Singh

The Indian Panorama photo

Former County Executive Ed Mangano, outside his arraignment in 2016.

Erik Hawkins/Herald, file

By Erik Hawkins

The restaurateur named in the corruption trial of former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and former Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto pleaded guilty in 2016, and will testify against the men at their upcoming trial, according to recently unsealed court documents.

Harendra Singh, 58, pleaded guilty on Oct. 17, 2016 to eight charges, including conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, federal program bribery, wire fraud and obstructing and impeding the due administration of internal revenue laws, according to the documents.

The charging documents and Singh’s plea were sealed until a Jan. 23 judge’s order to unseal them as part of discovery in Mangano and Venditto’s trial.

In one of the documents, Singh’s sentencing, scheduled for March 2017, was adjourned to March 2018, because he had agreed to testify against Mangano and Venditto at their trial.

According to federal prosecutors, Mangano and Venditto began a scheme involving kickbacks, bribes and a “sham” job for Mangano’s wife with Singh immediately after Mangano took office in 2010.

Both former officials were indicted in October 2016, and they both have pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors characterized the charges against Mangano and Venditto as constituting “the most egregious forms of bribery,” in which corruption is “so pervasive that it involves more than a single gift or an isolated official act, and often lasts for years.”

If convicted, Mangano and Venditto each face 20-year prison terms for each of the fraud and conspiracy charges against them, 10 years on the federal program bribery charge and five years for conspiracy to commit federal program bribery. Separately, Mangano faces up to 20 years on the extortion charge, and the Manganos and Venditto face 20 years on the obstruction of justice charge.

Singh’s sentencing is now set for March 29, after he testifies at Mangano and Venditto’s corruption trial, which is set to begin on March 12.